The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: suziequeue on March 09, 2013, 09:46:04 pm
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In the next few weeks we need to give our pregnant ewes their Heptavac P+ booster, their worming/fluke drench and a multivitamin drench. Also, check feet and udders etc. so we are probably going to be getting them in every week now. They are due to lamb mid-April.
Can I drench with the wormer and multivitamin at the same time? or should I separate them by a week or two? and if so - which one should I give first? Planning to do the Heptavac the 23rd March Saturday.
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Heptavac is quite hard on the ewe - I would't combine it with other treatments.
Do the sheep actually need worming? What is the worm count?
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Sounds quite a lot to be carrying out on pregnant ewes when you need to be minimising the stress levels for them and minimising handling as much as possible. Heptavac if booster due, but I would personally leave the worming until after lambing and forget the feet check etc. It is far easier to carry out these things once your ewes have lambed and you have them in their individual lambing pens before turnout. If I want to check udder prior to lambing I find this easiest to do when ewes are eating their nuts out of the trough as they are so intent on eating that they don't notice what I am doing!
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To add: Why would you check feet? If they aren't limping then their feet don't need anything doing to them. You'll have a job not turning them to look at feet properly and turning pregnant ewes is not a good idea. Udders should have been checked before they went to the tup - if they were fine then, they should be fine now.
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I was going to post this same question, SQ ..... after reading a previous thread on here about Heptavac being hard on the ewes.
I asked my vet last year if it was safe to do all treatments at the same time and he said yes, no problem. So I did.
Not sure what to do this year. If caught on one occasion, they are reluctant to be caught again for a while so may not be able to treat all of them for everything unless I do it in one go. :thinking:
Will read replies carefully.
All seemed fine last year ....... may just have been lucky I guess. ???
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"Individual lambing pens before turnout". ???? What's that??
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When my ewes have lambed I put them in a separate enclosure (lambing pen) made from sheep hurdles - they stay there with their lamb(s) for at least 24hrs to enable them to bond. I use this time to worm the ewe, tidy up her rear end if messy from the birth and also trim her feet etc if required as the ewe is enclosed in a smaller space and easier to handle. The ewes and lambs then get turned out in a larger nursery area with other ewes and lambs and then out in to the field (turnout!).
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"Individual lambing pens before turnout". ??? ? What's that??
Don't have any of that round here.. ;D
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Minerals and Heptavac together would be fine. Drench + vaccine not ideal but as you say you may need to do them together to minimise handling. If the ewes are generally fit and strong, then they should cope. I wouldn't vaccinate a ewe that was pulled down by fluke anyway - get the fluke treated and get some condition on her, and then Heptavac her.
Some farmers reckon that minerals + drench degrades the effect of one or both, and prefer to drench then give minerals a few days later, if practical. For one thing, it removes the load on her system of any fluke burden before you hit her with the vaccine. But be aware that if she had a very high fluke burden then she may get worse before she gets better - so don't vaccinate a ewe that is in poor condition and has gone downhill since fluking.
Some suppliers have tested and proven certain combinations of wormers, flukicides and minerals and you can buy combination drenches that include two or even three of those elements. Carrs, for instance, sell wormers and flukicides with minerals mixed in. The expiry date is much shorter than either product alone but they may be able to supply just a litre. Oh, and last time I used them, the minerals weren't chelated, so didn't give the longterm effect that a chelated drench would give.
Udders - she's going to lamb what she's going to lamb, and you'll check the milk supply both sides when she lambs, so there's not much benefit in checking udders at this point.
Feet - unless she can't walk / won't feed, she's better left alone and definitely not turned over at this stage. As ZtL says, give her feet an MoT after she's lambed.
Fluke - if you're in a flukey area and they're due a dose, then by all means fluke them.
Worms - generally ewes are wormed at or immediately after lambing, when any worms in their systems have woken up and the drench will knock them on the head. Then mums and lambs onto clean ground before the lambs start eating the grass.
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My ewes lamb out are definately not penned and are hard to catch once they have a lamb on the ground. getting all the ewes together before lambing is preferable than trying to worm etc once they have lambed. I have just completed my usual prelambing check four weeks prior to lambing; the ewes were fluked about a month prior to that as the ground has been so very wet this year.
I wormed the ewes, and vaccinated for clostridial diseases at the same time i don't use heptavac its not available here.
I do check udders as i want to be aware of any potential for problems or those that might need a closer eye keeping on them and i didn't trim hooves but checked that none appeared vastly overgrown.
This check is the one that takes me the longest the ewes are all collected slowly and we work very calmly. these are primitives and can be flighty when the mood takes them. horses for courses i guess.
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Thanks for all your responses.
I have a clearer idea of how we are going to get this done calmly, quietly and in time ;D :wave:
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Just a quick Q about Mineral drench - wasnt on my lambing radar ...... when is it needed (ie does everybody give it?). I'll also be getting mine in for heptovac booster next weekend and a quick dag. Id planned to collect droppings for a FEC, but nothing else. So much to learn!!!
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If your area is copper-deficient (most of the UK is) and your sheep aren't dietary copper intolerant (Texels can be, Ronaldsays are), then it could be advisable to give copper partway through gestation to help with skeleton formation. If you have ever had a lamb with swayback then you should certainly give copper.
Copper boluses, needles, or chelated copper in a broader-spectrum mineral drench all work.
So check with your vet on that one.
The most important time for them to have all their minerals and vitamins is before, during tupping and immediately after, to aid ovulation and implantation. If you don't mineral after tupping then you'd certainly mineral halfway through gestation, not least for copper if you need it in your area and for your sheep.
You can give a general mineral drench before lambing - sometimes they could use a tonic, and this gives them one. After the awfulness that was 2012, a lot of sheep could use a boost, I reckon. ;)